Ohio lawmakers set to approve election overhaul legislation

Chuck Crow, The Plain DealerOhio lawmakers are about to make changes to the state's election system, including some that would limit early voting.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Republican-controlled Ohio legislature is poised to approve a wide-ranging measure to overhaul the state's elections system, including new limits on early voting and possibly a later presidential primary.

Republicans have championed the changes as necessary to streamline Ohio's elections process and make it uniform across all 88 counties.

But Democrats say the proposal, particularly the limits on early voting, is outright voter suppression that will weaken turnout within their base just ahead of a referendum vote on Senate Bill 5, the controversial collective bargaining law approved earlier this year.

"This bill in its current form is oppressive, it is racist, it is discriminatory and it raises constitutional concerns," said Sen. Shirley Smith, a Cleveland Democrat.

The Senate on Tuesday approved an election overhaul bill along party lines. Senate President Tom Niehaus said the bill will bring needed improvements.

"We're about to become the center of the political universe again, and we're taking this action well in advance of the 2012 election to ensure that Ohio's system is fair, honest and completely accessible to qualified voters," Niehaus, a Cincinnati-area Republican, said in a statement.

The House of Representatives approved similar legislation last week, also over Democrats' objections.

Differences between the two bills, including a proposal to push back the presidential primary from March to May, will be worked out in the coming days in a conference committee chosen by GOP legislative leaders.

Republicans already agree on a number of issues, including the need for a new statewide voter database, an online system to update voter information and -- particularly upsetting to Democrats -- fewer opportunities for voters to cast absentee ballots, either by mail or in person at boards of elections.

The bills address dozens of topics, but they do not include a controversial plan, already approved in the House, requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls.

Both bills would prohibit counties from sending to all voters absentee ballot applications with postage prepaid to return them.

Republican lawmakers said the new rules limiting early voting would establish consistency across the state. Currently, only a handful of large counties pay for mass mailings, making it easier for voters in those areas to cast a ballot.

Republicans said they did not want to create an unfunded mandate by forcing all counties to mail out absentee ballot applications, so they prohibited the practice across the board.

Sen. Nina Turner of Cleveland and other Democrats said the limits on early voting are designed to reduce turnout this November, when a referendum on Senate Bill 5 is expected.

"I think it's very calculated," she said. "The timing is no accident in my mind."

The bills also decrease the number of days voters can vote early, either by mail or in-person at boards of election. Sen. Smith said those limits disproportionately affect low-income and minority voters.

Early voting begins 35 days before an election under current law, leaving open a window known as "Golden Week," in which people can register to vote and cast an absentee ballot at a board of elections on the same day.

"Golden Week" would be eliminated under both bills.

Republicans in both the House and Senate want to limit early voting by mail to 21 days before the election.

As for in-person absentee voting, doors would open 16 days before an election under the Senate's plan and 10 days before an election under the House's version. But there would be fewer actual days to vote in person before an election because boards of election would have to shut down at the close of business on the Friday before the election.

Election officials in larger counties said limiting early voting opportunities could lead to more headaches on Election Day.

The mass mailings and early voting operations in Cuyahoga County have reduced the number of Election Day voters, officials said. As a result, lines have been shorter and tabulating votes has been less problematic for the once-beleaguered Cuyahoga board.

"We've had great success with the mailings. We do think it increases voter participation," Cuyahoga elections board member Inajo Davis Chappell, a Democrat, said. "It also increases our ability to be efficient in tabulation and conducting all our election administration tasks."

In both bills:

•Widens the scope of the statewide voter database, which is administered by the Secretary of State, to include information from state agencies such as the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and the prisons system. The bills also would eliminate a limitation on personal information to be included in the database, and allow the Secretary of State to share the information with other states. The Senate bill requires the approval of a Board of Elections to purge voters from the database, while the House bill requires only the Secretary of State to notify a board.

•Provides an online voter registration tool. The House bill allows a voter to change only an address online. The Senate bill allows new voters to register or update their names and addresses online.

•Restricts opportunities for early voting. Currently, voters can cast a ballot either by mail or in person at a board of elections up to 35 days before an election. Both bills would cut the days for voting by mail to 21 days before an election. The House bill would restrict in-person early voting to 10 days before an election, and the Senate bill would cut the timeframe to 16 days before an election. But voters could not vote on all those days. In-person absentee voting would be prohibited on Sundays and would end at the close of business on the Friday before the election.

•Requires additional information from voters who cast provisional ballots, including date of birth, address and either Social Security number, driver's license number or other form of identification. If a voter provides a Social Security number, the House bill would require only the last four digits while the Senate bill would require all nine.

•Prohibits boards of elections from mass mailing absentee ballot applications and from pre-paying the postage to return the applications. This is a common practice in Cuyahoga County.

• Eliminates the "Golden Week" -- the timeframe before an election in which voters could register to vote and cast an absentee ballot in person on the same day.

•Gives petition circulators for a voter referendum less time to collect additional signatures if they fail to gather enough valid signatures the first time around.

•Eliminates a requirement that people paid to register voters register with the Secretary of State and complete a training program.

•Allows the Secretary of State and the Ohio Board of Voting Machine Examiners to authorize the use of electronic poll books to replace the conventional paper ones voters sign before voting.

In the House version:

•Moves the presidential primary from March to May.

• Eliminates a requirement that poll workers direct voters in the wrong precinct to the correct one.

• Automatically disqualifies votes for a specific office when more than one selection is made instead of giving boards discretion to determine a voter's intent.

In the Senate version:

•Increases the time allowed in a voting booth from 5 minutes to 10 minutes.

•Requires the Secretary of State to establish a process for notifying voters who submit an incomplete voter registration form.

•Allows a United States passport to be used as identification for voting.

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